System and method for providing a digital meeting tool

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods include data storage that stores user information for a plurality of user devices, a beacon that is configured to be associated with a first unique identifier, a meeting server that receives, from the data storage, data that includes user information one of the user devices, assigns the first unique identifier to one of the user devices based in part on similarities between the user information and an entity associated with the beacon, and creates a digital asset that includes the first unique identifier and first information, and a communication interface associated with the meeting server that transmits, via a network, the digital asset to the one of the user devices. The beacon broadcasts the first unique identifier via a short-range transmission at a first location and the one of the user devices detects the first unique identifier at the first location, compares it to the identifier associated with the digital asset, and displays a notification that includes the first information if there is a match.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application contains subject matter related to and claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/079,228, filed onNov. 13, 2014, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing adigital meeting tool that alerts a user to the presence of a proximitysensor associated with another individual.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In crowded environments such as recruiting events, conferences, tradeshows etc., it is difficult for a recruiter or other person to identifysomeone that is unknown or has an unfamiliar appearance. When a jobapplicant is attempting to meet the recruiter, there may be a lot offriction involved in figuring out the meeting place, timing, andlocation, and one or both parties may spend a significant amount of timeapproaching strangers as they search for one another. When creatingrecruiting events or similar meet-ups, there is a need to connect theright people at the event. There is also a need to tag, track andmaintain the connection with passive candidates.

These and other drawbacks exist.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the present disclosure, together with furtherobjects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in the several Figures of which like reference numeralsidentify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a system for providing a digitalmeeting tool to a user device, according to an example embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of a system for providing a digitalmeeting tool to a user device, according to an example embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3C depict screenshots of a digital asset, according to anexample embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic diagram of a method for providing a digitalmeeting tool to a user device, according to an example embodiment of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following description is intended to convey a thorough understandingof the embodiments described by providing a number of specific exemplaryembodiments and details involving systems and methods for providing adigital meeting tool to a user device. It should be appreciated,however, that the present disclosure is not limited to these specificembodiments and details, which are examples only. It is furtherunderstood that one possessing ordinary skill in the art, in light ofknown systems and methods, would appreciate the use of the invention forits intended purposes and benefits in any number of alternativeembodiments, depending on specific design and other needs. A company andsystem supporting a company are used as examples for the disclosure. Thedisclosure is not intended to be limited to companies only.

In various embodiments, a user device receives a notification about anevent, such as, for example, a recruiting event hosted by a company or asimilar type meet-up, such as, for example, a trade show. Thenotification may contain a link to download a digital asset to the userdevice. For example, the notification may contain a link to add thedigital asset to, for example, a Passbook of an iPhone user. Thenotification may contain a link to add the digital asset to a GoogleWallet of an Android user. The digital asset may include identifiersassociated with one or more recruiting devices. The digital asset mayinclude a picture and contact information for the recruiter(s)associated with the one or more recruiting devices, and the address forthe recruiting event. When the user device enters the location of therecruiting event and is in close vicinity, the recruiting devices at theevent may be broadcasting their unique identifiers. When the user devicedetects an identifier that matches the identifier in the digital asset,the user device may generate a notification providing additionalinformation about the recruiter, the job, the company, and otherinformation related to the event. The notification may containpicture/title/bio of the hiring manager and links to various otherrelevant content such as list of positions, company profiles, companyfacilities, benefits etc. The notification may provide locationinformation showing how close the user device is to the recruitingdevice.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a system 100 for providing adigital meeting tool to a user device, according to various embodimentsof the disclosure. The system 100 may include various network-enabledcomputer systems, including, as depicted in FIG. 1 for example, Entity101 (comprising meeting processor 106), user device 102 b, beacon 104 b,database 109, and network 108. It is also noted that the system 100illustrates only a single instance of each component. It will beappreciated that multiple instances of these components may be used. Forexample, various embodiments may include a plurality of user devices 102b, recruiter beacons 104 b, databases 109, and/or meeting processors106. Moreover, the system 100 may include other devices not depicted inFIG. 1.

In various example embodiments, meeting processor 106 may be astand-alone component separate from Entity 101. Each processor maycomprise one or more network-enabled computers. As referred to herein, anetwork-enabled computer system and/or device may include, but is notlimited to: e.g., any computer device, or communications deviceincluding, e.g., a server, a network appliance, a personal computer(PC), a workstation, a mobile device, a phone, a handheld PC, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a thin client, a fat client, an Internetbrowser, or other device. The network-enabled computer systems mayexecute one or more software applications to, for example, receive dataas input from an entity accessing the network-enabled computer system,process received data, transmit data over a network, and receive dataover a network. The one or more network-enabled computer systems mayalso include one or more software applications, such as meetingapplication 105, to enable a user of recruiter beacon 104 to transmitone or more signals to user device 102. In various embodiments, meetingapplication 105 may be integrated into a native mobile bankingapplication and/or a mobile optimized web site associated with Entity101, for example. The functionality of meeting application 105 also maybe integrated into an online banking website.

The components depicted in FIG. 1 may store information in variouselectronic storage media, such as database 109. Electronic information,files, and documents may be stored in various ways, including, forexample, a flat file, indexed file, hierarchical database, relationaldatabase, such as a database created and maintained with software from,for example, Oracle® Corporation, a Microsoft® SQL system, an Amazoncloud hosted database or any other query-able structured data storagemechanism.

The components depicted in FIG. 1 may be coupled via one or morenetworks, such as, for example, network 108. Network 108 may be one ormore of a wireless network, a wired network or any combination ofwireless network and wired network. For example, network 108 may includeone or more of a fiber optics network, a passive optical network, acable network, an Internet network, a satellite network, a wireless LAN,a Global System for Mobile Communication (“GSM”), a PersonalCommunication Service (“PCS”), a Personal Area Network (“PAN”), D-AMPS,Wi-Fi, Fixed Wireless Data, IEEE 802.11b, 802.15.1, 802.11n and 802.11gor any other wired or wireless network for transmitting and receiving adata signal. Network 108 may comprise one or more secure communicationchannels for securely exchanging information between requestor device102 a, dispenser device 102 b, and financial institution 101.

In addition, network 108 may include, without limitation, telephonelines, fiber optics, IEEE Ethernet 902.3, a wide area network (“WAN”), alocal area network (“LAN”), or a global network such as the Internet.Also network 108 may support an Internet network, a wirelesscommunication network, a cellular network, or the like, or anycombination thereof. Network 108 may further include one network, or anynumber of the exemplary types of networks mentioned above, operating asa stand-alone network or in cooperation with each other. Network 108 mayutilize one or more protocols of one or more network elements to whichthey are communicatively coupled. Network 108 may translate to or fromother protocols to one or more protocols of network devices. Althoughnetwork 108 is depicted as a single network, it should be appreciatedthat according to one or more embodiments, network 108 may comprise aplurality of interconnected networks, such as, for example, theInternet, a service provider's network, a cable television network,corporate networks, and home networks.

In various example embodiments, user device 102 b may be associated withuser 102 a. User 102 a may be an individual or entity that desires toattend an event hosted by Entity 101. The event may be a networkingevent, job fair or job recruiting event, and user 102 a may be a jobapplicant. Entity 101 may have one or more job openings that it posts onone or more web site and/or job boards. Entity 101 may be a company orinstitution, such as, for example, a bank, other type of financialinstitution, including a credit card and/or debit card provider, forexample, or any other entity that offers accounts to customers.

User device 102 b may be, for example, a handheld PC, a phone, asmartphone, a PDA, a tablet computer, or other device. User device 102 bmay include an iPhone, iPod, iPad from Apple® or any other mobile devicerunning Apple's iOS operating system, any device running Google'sAndroid® operating system, including for example, Google's wearabledevice, Google Glass, any device running Microsoft's Windows® Mobileoperating system, and/or any other smartphone or like wearable mobiledevice (e.g., smart watch). Beacon 104 b may be implemented in a devicesimilar to user device 102 b. In various embodiments, a deviceassociated with beacon 104 b may execute certain aspects of meetingapplication 105.

Meeting processor 106 may store a list of contact information forvarious individuals, including user 102 a. The list may include emailaddresses, phone numbers, usernames on social media accounts, and othercontact information associated with one or more individuals. In variousembodiments, the individuals may be potential job applicants. The listmay be created by meeting processor 106. The list may be provided tomeeting processor 106 from another network-enabled computer (not shown).For each individual on the list, the list may include informationrelated to the type of job or position that individual will be invitedto apply for. User 102 a may apply for a job by filling out an onlineapplication, and this information may be stored in the list by meetingprocessor 106.

Meeting processor 106 may create a digital asset for each individual onthe list. The digital assets may be stored in database 109. Meetingprocessor 106 may create digital asset 103 for user 102 a, based on theinformation provided by user 102 a. Meeting processor 106 may assign oneor more beacons to each digital asset in database 109. Meeting processor106 may assign beacon 104 b to digital asset 103. Beacon 104 b may be adevice that leverages Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to establish a regionaround the device by broadcasting signal 107 using one or moretransceivers. The transceivers may use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)technology. The transceivers may include, for example, iBeacons. Thetransceivers may include RFID transmitters and receivers, cameras,scanners, and/or Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities, which mayallow for communication with other devices by touching them together orbringing them into close proximity. Exemplary NFC standards includeISO/IEC 18092:2004, which defines communication modes for Near FieldCommunication Interface and Protocol (NFCIP-1). Other exemplary NFCstandards include those created by the NFC Forum. Beacon 104 b may behardware and/or software implemented on a device similar to user device102 b.

Beacon 104 b may broadcast a unique identifier within an area around thebeacon (shown as signal 107). The range of signal 107 may be limited,and the strength of signal 107 may decrease as it is transmitted outfrom beacon 104 b. User device 102 b may include one or more sensors fordetecting signal 107. The sensors may be Bluetooth-enabled.

In various embodiments, beacon 104 b may be associated with user 104 a.User 104 a may be a recruiter for Entity 101. Meeting processor 106 mayassign beacon 104 b to digital asset 103 based on similarities betweenuser 102 a and user 104 a. For example, in various embodiments, user 102a may be a job applicant for a position with Entity 101 and user 104 amay be a recruiter for Entity 101. Entity 101 may be hosting arecruiting event or job fair, and user 104 a will be there with beacon104 b. Meeting processor 106 may create a digital asset 103 for user 102a that includes a description of the event, the date and time, adescription of the job or jobs that the user 102 a can apply for, apicture of user 104 a, the unique identifier associated with beacon 104b, contact information for user 104 a, and one or more links forwebsites associated with Entity 101. User 104 a may be a recruiter forthe specific type of job that user 102 a has applied for.

User device 102 b may receive digital asset 103 via network 108. Meetingprocessor 106 may send digital asset 103 in an email, text message, SMS,MMS, and/or via a messaging program associated with user 102 a's socialmedia account (or accounts). User device 102 b may receive notificationfrom meeting processor 106 that includes a link to download digitalasset 103. For example, notification 301 is shown in FIG. 3A.Notification 301 may be an email, text message, MMS, or other electronicmessage. Notification 301 may include information 302 about the upcomingevent (where user 102 a will be attending). The information may includethe name of the event, the date and time, and the location. Notification301 may include links 303 a and 303 b for the user 102 a to select anddownload a digital asset to user device 102 b. Each link may beassociated with a different digital asset (e.g., each digital asset maybe associated with a unique job or unique recruiter). In variousembodiments, digital asset 103 may be stored in, for example, apassbook. If the user selects links 303 a and/or 303 b, user device 102b may be connected to one or more websites where the user 102 a candownload digital asset 103 to user device 102 b. In various embodiments,digital asset 103 may be part of a software application that user 102 amay install on user device 102 b.

FIG. 3B depicts a screenshot of an example embodiment of a digital asset103 on user device 102 b. The digital asset may be configured to workwith, for example, Apple Passbook. The digital asset also may beconfigured to work with Google Wallet. The digital asset 103 shows theevent information 304 a (including the date and time of the event, thename of the event, the physical address, etc.). The digital asset 103includes a picture 304 b of the user 104 a associated with beacon 104 b.The digital asset 103 includes contact information 304 c for the user104 a (e.g., name, job title, phone number). The digital asset 103 mayinclude a bar code/QR code 305 that is linked to user 102 a's emailaddress.

FIG. 3C depicts a screenshot of an example embodiment of a digital asseton user device 102 b. This may be the same digital asset as the oneshown in FIG. 3B. The digital asset may include contact information 306for user 104 a (e.g., an email address, a link to a LinkedIn profile,etc.). The digital asset may include job information 307, such as linksto job postings, recruiting events, and other careers with Entity 101.

The user of user device 102 b may be able to forward digital asset 103to other user devices. The digital asset 103 may be sent as anattachment to an email, text message, SMS, MMS, in-app message, orelectronic message on a social media platform. The user of user device102 b may forward the link in notification 301 to other user devices. Invarious embodiments, meeting processor 106 may update digital asset 103and provided the updated digital asset to user device 102 b. Meetingprocessor 106 may update the digital asset to reflect changes in thevenue of the event, changes to the event description, changes to therecruiter 104 a and/or recruiter device 104 b, etc.

User 102 a may bring user device 102 b to the event described in theevent information 304 a shown in FIG. 3A. User 104 a may be at the eventwith beacon 104 b. Beacon 104 b may be linked to another device used byuser 104 a, and user 104 a may configure beacon 104 b to transmit itsunique identifier. Beacon 104 b may itself be part of a device that issimilar to user device 102 b. In various embodiments, beacon 104 b mayautomatically broadcast its unique identifier via signal 107. Userdevice 102 b may contain digital asset 103, which includes the uniqueidentifier associated with beacon 104 b. When user device 102 b is at ornearby the same location as beacon 104 b, user device 102 b may detectsignal 107 broadcast by beacon 104 b. The signal 107 may include beacon104 b's unique identifier. User device 102 b may compare the detectedunique identifier with the unique identifier in digital asset 103.

If there is a match, user device 102 b may display a notification foruser 102 a. The notification may include information from digital asset103. The notification may show the picture 304 b of user 104 a. Thenotification may inform user 102 a that user 104 a is at the event. Userdevice 102 b may determine how close user device 102 b is to beacon 104b, based on the strength of signal 107. The notification may display thelocation of user device 102 b relative to beacon 104 b. The notificationmay include contact information for user 104 a (e.g., a contact numberassociated with beacon 104 b). If there is no match, user device 102 bmay display a second notification to user 102 a indicating that user 104a has not been detected at the event.

FIG. 2 depicts an example system 200 that provides providing a digitalmeeting tool to a user device. As shown in FIG. 2, system 200 mayinclude a client device 202, a network 204, a front-end controlleddomain 206, a back-end controlled domain 212, and a backend 218.Front-end controlled domain 206 may include one or more load balancers208 and one or more web servers 210. Back-end controlled domain 212 mayinclude one or more load balancers 214 and one or more applicationservers 216.

Client device 202 may be a network-enabled computer. Client device 202may be similar to user device 102 b and/or user device that includesbeacon 104 b and executes a meeting application 105. Client device 202may be configured to receive digital asset 103. As referred to herein, anetwork-enabled computer may include, but is not limited to: e.g., anycomputer device, or communications device including, e.g., a server, anetwork appliance, a personal computer (PC), a workstation, a mobiledevice, a phone, a handheld PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), athin client, a fat client, an Internet browser, or other device. The oneor more network-enabled computers of the example system 200 may executeone or more software applications to enable, for example, networkcommunications.

Client device 202 also may be a mobile device: For example, a mobiledevice may include an iPhone, iPod, iPad from Apple® or any other mobiledevice running Apple's iOS operating system, any device running Google'sAndroid® operating system, including for example, Google's wearabledevice, Google Glass, any device running Microsoft's Windows® Mobileoperating system, and/or any other smartphone or like wearable mobiledevice.

Network 204 may be one or more of a wireless network, a wired network,or any combination of a wireless network and a wired network. Forexample, network 204 may include one or more of a fiber optics network,a passive optical network, a cable network, an Internet network, asatellite network, a wireless LAN, a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM), a Personal Communication Service (PCS), a PersonalArea Networks, (PAN), D-AMPS, Wi-Fi, Fixed Wireless Data, IEEE 802.11b,802.15.1, 802.11n, and 802.11g or any other wired or wireless networkfor transmitting and receiving a data signal.

In addition, network 204 may include, without limitation, telephonelines, fiber optics, IEEE Ethernet 902.3, a wide area network (WAN), alocal area network (LAN) or a global network such as the Internet. Also,network 110 may support an Internet network, a wireless communicationnetwork, a cellular network, or the like, or any combination thereof.Network 204 may further include one network, or any number of exampletypes of networks mentioned above, operating as a stand-alone network orin cooperation with each other. Network 204 may utilize one or moreprotocols of one or more network elements to which they arecommunicatively couples. Network 204 may translate to or from otherprotocols to one or more protocols of network devices. Although network204 is depicted as a single network, it should be appreciated thataccording to one or more embodiments, network 204 may comprise aplurality of interconnected networks, such as, for example, theInternet, a service provider's network, a cable television network,corporate networks, and home networks.

Front-end controlled domain 206 may be implemented to provide securityfor backend 218. Load balancer(s) 208 may distribute workloads acrossmultiple computing resources, such as, for example computers, a computercluster, network links, central processing units or disk drives. Invarious embodiments, load balancer(s) 208 may distribute workloadsacross, for example, web server(S) 210 and/or backend 218 systems. Loadbalancing aims to optimize resource use, maximize throughput, minimizeresponse time, and avoid overload of any one of the resources. Usingmultiple components with load balancing instead of a single componentmay increase reliability through redundancy. Load balancing is usuallyprovided by dedicated software or hardware, such as a multilayer switchor a Domain Name System (DNS) server process.

Load balancer(s) 208 and 214 may include software that monitoring theport where external clients, such as, for example, client device 202,connect to access various services of a financial institution or thirdparty that provides the digital tool (such as system 100 shown in FIG.1), for example. Load balancer(s) 208 may forward requests to one of theapplication servers 216 and/or backend 218 servers, which may then replyto load balancer 208. This may allow load balancer(s) 208 to reply toclient device 202 without client device 202 ever knowing about theinternal separation of functions. It also may prevent client devicesfrom contacting backend servers directly, which may have securitybenefits by hiding the structure of the internal network and preventingattacks on backend 218 or unrelated services running on other ports, forexample.

A variety of scheduling algorithms may be used by load balancer(s) 208to determine which backend server to send a request to. Simplealgorithms may include, for example, random choice or round robin. Loadbalancers 208 also may account for additional factors, such as aserver's reported load, recent response times, up/down status(determined by a monitoring poll of some kind), number of activeconnections, geographic location, capabilities, or how much traffic ithas recently been assigned.

Load balancers 208 may be implemented in hardware and/or software. Loadbalancer(s) 208 may implement numerous features, including, withoutlimitation: asymmetric loading; Priority activation: SSL Offload andAcceleration; Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack protection;HTTP compression; TCP offloading; TCP buffering; direct server return;health checking; HTTP caching; content filtering; HTTP security;priority queuing; rate shaping; content-aware switching; clientauthentication; programmatic traffic manipulation; firewall; intrusionprevention systems.

Web server(s) 210 may include hardware (e.g., one or more computers)and/or software (e.g., one or more applications) that deliver webcontent that can be accessed by, for example a client device (e.g.,client device 202) through a network (e.g., network 204), such as theInternet. In various examples, web servers, may deliver web pages,relating to, for example, online banking applications and the like, toclients (e.g., client device 202). Web server(s) 210 may use, forexample, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP or sHTTP) to communicatewith client device 202. The web pages delivered to client device mayinclude, for example, HTML documents, which may include images, stylesheets and scripts in addition to text content.

A user agent, such as, for example, a web browser, web crawler, ornative mobile application, may initiate communication by making arequest for a specific resource using HTTP and web server 210 mayrespond with the content of that resource or an error message if unableto do so. The resource may be, for example a file on stored on backend218. Web server(s) 210 also may enable or facilitate receiving contentfrom client device 202 so client device 202 may be able to, for example,submit web forms, including uploading of files.

Web server(s) also may support server-side scripting using, for example,Active Server Pages (ASP), PHP, or other scripting languages.Accordingly, the behavior of web server(s) 210 can be scripted inseparate files, while the actual server software remains unchanged.

Load balancers 214 may be similar to load balancers 208 as describedabove.

Application server(s) 216 may include hardware and/or software that isdedicated to the efficient execution of procedures (e.g., programs,routines, scripts) for supporting its applied applications. Applicationserver(s) 216 may comprise one or more application server frameworks,including, for example, Java application servers (e.g., Java platform,Enterprise Edition (Java EE), the .NET framework from Microsoft®, PHPapplication servers, and the like). The various application serverframeworks may contain a comprehensive service layer model. Also,application server(s) 216 may act as a set of components accessible to,for example, a financial institution or other entity implementing system200 and/or system 100, through an API defined by the platform itself.For Web applications, these components may be performed in, for example,the same running environment as web server(s) 210, and applicationservers 216 may support the construction of dynamic pages. Applicationserver(s) 216 also may implement services, such as, for example,clustering, fail-over, and load-balancing. In various embodiments, whereapplication server(s) 216 are Java application servers, the webserver(s) 210 may behaves like an extended virtual machine for runningapplications, transparently handling connections to databases associatedwith backend 218 on one side, and, connections to the Web client (e.g.,client device 202) on the other.

Backend 218 may include hardware and/or software that enables thebackend services of, for example, a financial institution or otherentity that maintains a distributes system similar to system 200 and/orsystem 100. For example, backend 218 may include, a system of record,online banking applications, a rewards platform, a payments platform, alending platform, including the various services associated with, forexample, auto and home lending platforms, a statement processingplatform, one or more platforms that provide mobile services, one ormore platforms that provide online services, a card provisioningplatform, a general ledger system, system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and thelike. Backend 218 may be associated with various databases, includingaccount databases that maintain, for example, customer accountinformation, product databases that maintain information about productsand services available to customers, content databases that storecontent associated with, for example, a financial institution, and thelike. Backend 218 also may be associated with one or more servers thatenable the various services provided by system 200. Backend 218 may beassociated with one or more servers that enable the various servicesprovided by system 100.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for providing adigital meeting tool to a user device. The method 400 shown in FIG. 4can be executed or otherwise performed by one or more combinations ofvarious systems. The method 400 as described below may be carried out bythe system for providing a digital meeting tool, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2,3 a, and 3 b by way of example, and various elements of that system arereferenced in explaining the method of FIG. 4. Each block shown in FIG.4 represents one or more processes, methods, or subroutines in theexemplary method 400. Referring to FIG. 4, the exemplary method 400 maybegin at block 401.

At block 401, a contact list associated with one or more user devicesmay be received. Each of the user devices on the list may be associatedwith a user interested in attending an event. The event may be a jobfair, for example, or any other like event where individuals may meet,such as, for example, a trade show. For example, in various embodiments,the event may be a dating event. The event may be a social event, suchas a concert or a baseball game. Each user on the list may havepreviously expressed interest in attending the event. The contact listmay include a contact number and/or email address associated with theuser's device. In one example, the event may be a job fair, and eachuser on the list may be job candidates who are planning to attend thejob fair. One candidate, John, may provide his email address and phonenumber associated with his smartphone to the entity hosting the event.John may have previously submitted this information in an online and/orpaper application. The entity hosting the event—in this example, CompanyX—may receive a list of attendees (a contact list) that includes John'scontact information.

At block 402, meeting processor 106 may associate each name on thecontact list with a beacon or other transmitter, such as a BLEtransmitter, NFC transmitter, RFID transmitter or the like. Each beaconmay be implemented using a mobile device. For example, a representativeaffiliated with or associated with Company X that is recruitingindividuals may configure a mobile device to act or serve as a beaconfor the event. Each beacon may have a unique identifier that it cantransmit using a short-range transmission method (e.g., Bluetooth, NFC,RFID, etc.). The beacon may be associated with an individual who will beattending the event and needs to meet with one or more of the users onthe contact list. In this example, beacon A may be associated with arecruiter who works for Company X—Bob. Meeting processor 106 may createan entry in database 109 for John that includes his contact information,the information on the jobs he applied for, biographical information,and other relevant information. Meeting processor 106 may associateBob's beacon (beacon A) with John's information in the database based atleast in part on the fact that Bob is a recruiter for Company X, will beattending the job fair that John has applied to attend, and isassociated with the specific types of jobs that John applied for and/oris interested in. A meeting application (e.g., meeting application 105)may be used to implement beacon 104 b.

At block 403, meeting processor 106 may create a digital asset for auser (e.g., John) based on the information associated with the user(e.g., John) in database 109. In this example, the digital asset may bedesigned to work with, for example, Apple Passbook on John's smartphone.The digital asset may include beacon A's unique identifier. The digitalasset may include information about the job fair (e.g., the location,date and time, directions, etc). The digital asset may include a pictureof Bob. The digital asset may include one or more links to descriptionsof different jobs offered by Company X that John may be qualified for.

At block 404, the digital asset may be provided to the user's device. Inthis example, John may receive a notification sent to his smartphonethat includes the digital asset (e.g., as an attachment to an email ortext message). The notification may include a link to one or morewebsites hosted by Company X where John can download the digital asset.John may download the digital asset to his smartphone and attend the jobfair using the information provided in the digital asset. In variousembodiments, John may download the digital asset using an application onhis user device. Once the digital asset is on his phone, John may openthe application and “add” the digital asset to his passbook (e.g., ifhis user device is an iPhone).

At block 405, the beacon may broadcast a signal that includes its uniqueidentifier. In this example, Bob may be at the job fair with beacon A,and may use an application associated with beacon A to continuouslybroadcast beacon A's unique identifier using a short-range transmissionmethod (e.g., Bluetooth, NFC, iBeacon technology, RFID).

At block 406, the user device may detect the signal from the beacon. Inthis example, John may be attending the job fair hosted by Company X.John's smartphone, which contains the digital asset, may detect thesignal being broadcast by beacon A (associated with Bob). John'ssmartphone may be equipped with hardware and/or software to detectshort-range transmissions (e.g., Bluetooth, NFC, iBeacon technology,RFID). Upon receiving the signal, John's smartphone may compare theunique identifier in the signal with the unique identifier associatedwith the digital asset on John's smartphone. If there is a match, thedigital asset may provide a notification on John's smartphone (block407). The notification may inform John that Bob is at the event. Thenotification may include Bob's picture. The notification may includeBob's contact information. The notification may show Bob's currentlocation at the event. If John's smartphone detects one or more signals,but cannot determine a match, the digital asset may display one or morenotifications informing John that Bob's beacon was not detected. Thedigital asset may provide a notification asking John to move closer tothe event, or move into a different room (e.g., so that his device canbetter pickup beacon signals without interference).

It is further noted that the software described herein may be tangiblyembodied in one of more physical media, such as, but not limited to, acompact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk, a harddrive, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), as well asother physical media capable of storing software, or combinationsthereof. Moreover, the figures illustrate various components (e.g.,servers, computers, processors, etc.) separately. The functionsdescribed as being performed at various components may be performed atother components, and the various components bay be combined orseparated. Other modifications also may be made.

In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have beendescribed with references to the accompanying drawings. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madethereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, withoutdeparting from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in theclaims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to beregarded as an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method comprising: storing contact informationincluding data associated with a first device; associating a seconddevice identifier with the first device based on one or moresimilarities between the data associated with the first device and dataassociated with a second device that is associated with the seconddevice identifier; creating a digital asset comprising the second deviceidentifier; and transmitting the digital asset to the first device tofacilitate a physical meeting between a first user of the first deviceand a second user of the second device.
 22. The method of claim 21further comprising receiving, from the first device, at least a portionof the data associated with the first device.
 23. The method of claim 22further comprising: receiving, from a third device, data associated withthe third device; associating the second device identifier with thethird device based on one or more similarities between the dataassociated with the third device and the data associated with the seconddevice; and transmitting the digital asset to the third device tofacilitate a physical meeting between a third user of the third deviceand the second user.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the digitalasset further comprises event information corresponding to an event atwhich the first user and the second user can physically meet.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the digital asset further comprises a photoof the second user.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein the digitalasset further comprises contact information associated with the seconduser.
 27. The method of claim 24 further comprising: updating thedigital asset to indicate changed event information; and transmitting,to the first device, the updated digital asset.
 28. The method of claim21, wherein transmitting the digital asset to the first device comprisestransmitting the digital asset via email, short message service,multimedia messaging service, or via a messaging program associated witha social media platform.
 29. The method of claim 21, whereintransmitting the digital asset to the first device comprisestransmitting, to the first device, a notification including a link todownload the digital asset.
 30. A method for facilitating one or morephysical meetings between an applicant and one or more recruiters of aplurality of recruiters, the method comprising: storing contactinformation including data associated with an applicant deviceassociated with an applicant; associating a first recruitment identifierwith the applicant device based on one or more similarities between thedata associated with the applicant device and data associated with afirst recruitment device that is associated with the first recruitmentidentifier, the first recruitment device being associated with a firstrecruiter of the plurality of recruiters; associating a secondrecruitment identifier with the applicant device based on one or moresimilarities between the data associated with the applicant device anddata associated with a second recruitment device that is associated withthe second recruitment identifier, the second recruitment device beingassociated with a second recruiter of the plurality of recruiters;creating a first digital asset comprising the first recruitmentidentifier; creating a second digital asset comprising the secondrecruitment identifier; and transmitting, to the applicant device, anotification for facilitating one or more physical meetings between theapplicant and one or more recruiters of the plurality of recruiters, thenotification comprising a first link associated with the first digitalasset and a second link associated with the second digital asset,wherein selection of the first link causes download of the first digitalasset to the applicant device and selection of the second link causesdownload of the second digital asset to the applicant device.
 31. Amethod for facilitating a meeting between a first user of a first deviceand a second user of a second device, the method comprising: receiving,at the first device, a digital asset corresponding to the second device;detecting, by a first device, a signal comprising an identifier;determining, by the first device and based on a comparison of thedetected identifier to a unique identifier associated with the seconddevice, whether the detected identifier matches the unique identifier;responsive to determining that the detected identifier matches theunique identifier, display, on a display of the first device, a firstnotification indicating that the second user is located nearby; andresponsive to not determining that the detected identifier matches theunique identifier, display, on a display of the first device, anotification indicating that the second user has not been detected. 32.The method of claim 31, wherein the first notification further comprisescontact information associated with the second user.
 33. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the first notification further comprises a photo ofthe second user.
 34. The method claim 31, wherein the secondnotification further comprises instructions to move closer to apredetermined location.
 34. The method of claim 31 further comprisingdetermining a location of the first user device relative to a locationof the second user device.
 36. The method of claim 34, whereindetermining the location of the first user device relative to thelocation of the second user device comprises: determining a signalstrength of the signal; and determining, based on the signal strength, aproximity of the first user device relative the second user device. 37.The method of claim 31 further comprising saving, by the first device,the digital asset to a passbook of the first device.